Maine Perspective Front Page
University Pursuing Plan to Build Three Residence Halls
This month, the University of Maine System Board of Trustees is expected to consider giving the green light to UMaine to pursue planning for the first of three residence halls to be constructed on campus in the next six years.
The new construction is in response to projected increases in UMaine's undergraduate population and to more students, including juniors and seniors, who are expected to request on-campus housing in the future.
Pending BOT approval, an architect will be hired to help plan
the first hall to house about 200 students. It will be located between Chadbourne and Balentine halls. Construction could begin as early as spring 2000.
It is expected to be recommended that funding for constructing the first hall come from the System's issuance of revenue bonds.
The second and third halls, to be constructed in 2002 and 2004, will be additions to Doris Twitchell Allen Village. The wings will be built off DTAV's community building, pointing northwest and west toward Stewart Commons and Jenness Hall.
With construction of the third residence hall, York Village, a cluster of on-campus apartments on the south end of campus, will be demolished. York Village, built in 1978, houses 200 students.
By 2006, UMaine will have a created new housing accommodations for a total of 600 students - a net gain of 400 beds (with the demolition of York Village).
"The intent is to make it more attractive for more students to stay on campus," says Mark Anderson, interim vice president for Student Affairs who chaired a Campus Living Residence Hall Construction Planning Committee last fall. "We'll do that with new construction and halls containing the (amenities) students say they want in campus housing.
"We're often asked about Oak and Hannibal Hamlin halls. Should we be building new residence halls when we have these two facilities (that are former dormitories)? For a lot of structural reasons, it doesn't make sense to renovate these two buildings."
Hannibal Hamlin now houses offices; Oak is used for storage.
The site for the first new residence hall was chosen for a number of reasons, including the fact that utilities infrastructure is already in place. It also will increase the number of students using Stodder Commons, which has the lowest patronage of the four dining commons on campus.
The new hall will be designated for upperclass student housing with single rooms and non-mandatory dining plan. In the short term, it also will have no immediate parking available.
"The committee clearly came down on the side of keeping residence halls within the perimeter of campus," says Anderson. "There is some advantage of building north or east from Hilltop, or behind the Credit Union to push out the boundaries of campus. But given the campus culture and its still relatively small size, construction within the perimeter keeps the community more vibrant by having students living within the campus. Today, our single most popular residence hall is Hart Hall because it is so close to the center of campus."